host: good morning. it's wednesday, may 14. markups to the reconciliation bill are underway. ways and means, which oversees tax policy, energy and commerce, which has jurisdiction over medicaid, and agriculture, which manages food stamp programs, or snap. for our first half-hour, we're focusing on medicaid and snap benefits and asking if you

support or oppose changes to those social safety net programs. here's how to reach us. democrats, 202-748-8000. republicans, 202-748-8001. independents, 202-748-8002. you can send us texts to 202-748-8003. include your first name and your city and state. post your comments on social media, facebook.com/cspan. and x @cspanwj. welcome to today's "washington journal." the agriculture committee has wrapped up their work, but energy and commerce and ways and means are still going. let's take a look. they've been going all night. here is the energy and commerce committee. we'll take a live look at what's going on right now. >> you can't meet those red tape requirements, work requirements, exemptions, whatever for pregnancy, whatever, you cannot

get the subsidy, yes, correct? >> yes, if an individual does not meet the requirements, they would not meet the definition. >> ok, thank you. >> the gentleman's time is expired. >> i yield back. is there any further discussion? seeing none, there's a roll call vote requested. the clerk will record the -- the clerk will call the roll. >> mr. latta votes no. host: and that's going on right now. so if you would like to -- we'll give you clips of what's been going on since yesterday. they started at 2:00 p.m. last night, ways means started at 2:30 p.m. yesterday. we have live coverage on our website, c-span.org. this is punch bowl news with this from this morning. it says yes, the senate will change the g.o.p. reconciliation

bill. here's something speaker mike johnson should be worried about. senate republicans are gearing up to change the house's reconciliation package. the big questions are by how much and 10 house republicans, can they give with those changes? johnson hopes to have the house g.o.p. reconciliation panel annal on the floor next week. if johnson and his team can pass it, senate republicans will have several weeks to debate and revise the package to pass it before the debt limit needs to be raised in mid-july. that's what punchbowl news, if you'd like to take a look at that. here's the energy committee markup. the chairman from kentucky, said the bill would ensure medicaid continues to benefit all those it's intended for. >> we make no apologies for prioritizing americans in need over illegal immigrants and those who are capable but choose not to work. our priority remains the same,

strengthen and sustain medicaid for those whom the program was intended to serve. expectant mothers, children, people with disabilities, and the elderly. we are prepared to stop the billions of dollars of waste, fraud and abuse in the medicaid program, while beginning to rein in loopholes, by ensuring states have the flexibility to remove ineligible resilients and remove beneficiaries who enrolled in multiple states. these are all policies that will return taxpayer dollars to the middle class families. medicaid was created to protect healthcare for americans who otherwise could not support themselves, but democrats expanded the program far beyond this core mission. that's why we are establishing common-sense work requirements for capable, but not working adults in the expansion population. let me be clear. these work requirements would only apply to able-bodied adults without dependents who don't have a disqualifying condition, encourage them to re-enter the

workforce and regain independence. all of this is part of our effort to strengthen medicaid for the people that need it most. host: we're taking your calls this morning. do you think there should be changes to those safety net programs, to medicaid, to snap? what would those favors be if you're in favor of changes? this is politico reporting c.b.o. says that 7.6 million would go uninsured under the g.o.p. medicaid bill. it says the congressional budget office estimates that many of the major medicaid policies would account for $625 billion in savings, though the c.b.o. didn't calculate the impact of all those provisions. it said it would lead to 10.3 million people losing coverage under the health safety net program and 7.6 million people going uninsured. that's according to estimates from the nonpartisan congressional budget office, and that's being reported by politico, if you would like to

read the full article. also from yesterday's house energy and commerce markup, ranking member frank pallone said that republicans and president trump broke their promise to keep medicaid secure. here it is. >> in february president trump said, and i'm quoting, medicare, medicaid, none of that stuff is going to be touched. house speaker johnson doubled down on that promise, stating, and again i'm quoting, the white house has made a commitment. the president has said over and over, we're not going to touch social security, medicaid or medicare. we've made that same commitment. now, i have to say, mr. chairman, those are promises that republicans made to the american people, and it's clear that they have broken that promise. i just want to reference on sunday night, mr. chairman, in a "wall street journal" interview, you actually said that the republican plan to trim medicaid spending, you were commenting on the republican plan to trim medicaid spending, and you said, and i quote, we're going to go as far as we can go to get 218

vets. i think the bottom line is you're going pretty far here in either trimming or cutting or whatever you want to call it, you refer to it as trimming, medicaid. you don't have to take my word for it. the nonpartisan congressional budget office's own analysis shows at least 13.7 million americans will lose their healthcare coverage as a result of trump and congressional republicans actions. host: we will take your calls go to eric in modesto, california, independent. hi, eric. caller: i have a question. i was talking about medicare and medicaid and social security. i was told that social security, i mean, medicare is for people that's retired, and medicare is for people who cannot afford to have enough money because they have either not worked or they are just here illegally. is that true?

host: i can't answer that, because that's specific to california. but medicaid is the one for aiding those that are low income. medicare is for the elderly. but you mentioned medicaid cal, which would be specific to california. caller: ok, that's all i needed to know, thank you. host: susie in north carolina, republican. hi, susie. caller: hi, good morning. i have a sister that is on stability, and so therefore, she gets medicare, medicaid. she has a severe back injury. and she has been to, i can't tell you how many doctors she's been to around and around and around and around, they just shop her to try to relieve her back.

finally she went to enough doctors they finally decided to put one of those ports in her to relieve her back pain. they put it in her for a week, took it out. they took it out so that she could be on the weight list for it to be implanted permit. therefore, she did not need to go to five, eight doctors to get that done. she just needed one doctor and that's all. that's all i got to say about it. the doctors are the ones that's ripping medicaid off. host: all right, susie, here's bete in georgia, democrat. good morning, betty. caller: good morning. i support the medicaid because i have 50, 60-year-old daughter. she has a lung disability, and she's been on there ever since she was 18 years old. and then they said a lot of people, able-bodied people on

medicaid. i don't believe that. because you have to go through a lot of trouble to get on those benefits. and i think they should keep it for people. my daughter, she can't understand reading. she can't spell. she can't do anything. she's still here with me, and i'm 83 years old. and she needs her medicaid. host: our previous caller was saying there's a lot, that there's waste in medicaid. what have you seen with your doctor? caller: i haven't seen the waste in medicaid. host: all right. and here's some information for you from the keyser family foundation, attempting to know about medicaid. medicaid is the primary program providing comprehensive coverage of health and long-term care to 83 million low-income people in the united states. it accounts for one-fifth of healthcare spending, more than half of spending for medicaid is

for long-term care. long-term would be nursing homes or those that are permanently disabled, home health aide, that kind of thing. a medicaid is jointly financed by states and the federal government, but administered by states within broad federal rules. because states have a degree of flexibility to determine what populations and services to cover, how to deliver care and how much to reimburse providers, there is significant variation across states in program spending and the share of state residents covered by the program. here's jared in delaware, democrat. jared, what do you think of these social safety net programs? do you think they changed? caller: before i say anything about that, i want to let you know i love your show and i love that you guys let everybody speak. i think the social safety net programs should not be changed. here's why. if you remember, or if anybody is a history buff, there's two

people, martin luther king jr. and fred hanson. both of them talked about bringing poor people, black, white, asian, hispanic, because at the end of the day the government was set up for the rich and to keep the poor poor. these republicans over the last election cycle knew exactly what trump did. he put it in project 2025. he said it. he was going to do this. he was going to do that. he was going to cut medicaid. oh, i'm sorry, they said they wouldn't cut medicaid, and kamala harris said they would, indeed, cut medicaid. now every other call this morning is the republican calling, talking about one of their family members or them and how the government is now going to slash their benefits. duh. duh, duh, duh. we told you this would happen. we screamed it to the mountaintops. she told you it would happen. it's not a white thing, it's not a black thing. it's a poor and a rich. the rich are going to get richer, and the poor are going to get poorer. they voted for it. republicans voted it. that's what they wanted to happen.

and now the chickens are coming home to roost. so again, just remember what fred hanson, remember martin luther king jr., it's about poor versus rich. host: got it, jared. and this is from the house agriculture committee yesterday on snap benefits. take a look. >> we achieve our savings and meet our reconciliation instructions through necessary snap reforms, requiring states to have some skin in the game, and encouraging more effective and efficient administration of the program. we're getting folks who can work back to work. since 2019, snap costs have skyrocketed from $60 billion to $110 billion annually, an 83% increase. while enrollment has grown from 36 million to 42 million. unlike every other state administered retirement program, snap benefit is 100% funded by the federal government, resulting in minimal incentives

for states to control costs, enhance efficiencies, and improve outcomes for recipients. despite low unemployment and seven million available jobs, less than 1/3 of able-bodied adults on snap who are supposed to be working to receive the benefits have earned income. unfortunately, the bipartisan work requirement that has been enshrined in the law for decades has been skirted by the executive branch and states, leaving 40% of those subject to the work requirements living under a wave. unless congress acts to restore integrity to the work requirement, millions of able-bodied adults will remain on the sideline, disconnected from work and out of reach of the ladder of opportunities. >> folks, the average snap benefit is about $6 per day. it's $6 a day. you don't build a life on snap. you build a bridge to the next

paycheck, the next opportunity, that next moment of stability. i'm sure we will hear about this today, so let's dispel the myth that snap discourages work. that's simply false. adults on snap are already required to work or actively looking for work. many are juggling multiple jobs, trying to raise children and make ends meet. others are caregivers, students or temporarily out of the workforce due to illness or injury. snap doesn't enable dependents, it enables resilience. and here's the deeper truth. access to food is not a privilege. in a nation as rich and resourceful as ours, no one, and i mean no one, should go hungry. that's exactly what will happen if we gut this program tonight. host: and just so you're aware, president trump has just landed air force one in qatar.

that's a live look there on your screen. there's a welcoming ceremony that will get underway once he gets off the plane, and we will keep an eye on that trip and let you know if anything happens throughout this program. take a look at some postings on social media. this is congressman jared moowitz, who said i signed on to a position force a vote that would protectedicaid and food assistance program which are lifelines for millions of floridians. if house republicans claim their budget doesn't slash these programs, they should have no problem taking this vote. reprentive dan crenshaw, be prepared for lines and fact checks over the next 24 hours. we just started and i'm already disgusted by the extent of the lies being told by democrats medicaid reform. i will be relibertiments in exposing them for the grand standingia they are. stay tuned. and america inc., if our tax money can provide billions in

financial support orseas across the globe, it can also provide safety nets for our own citizen's health. and randy webber from texas says the left is going off t rails on medicaid. they're the ones who have recklessly expanded, i opening floodgates to waste, fraud and abuse, hurting the very people medicaid was supposed to help. let's be clear, republicans are protecting medicaid. let's hear from laura, who's calling from california, democrat. hi, laura. caller: yes, i just want to say to politicians that are voting to cut medicaid, don't have to worry about healthcare, because it is paid for by we taxpayers. the thing that i worry about is the work requirements that the republicans are suggesting for medicaid should not include caregivers. they take care of their parents,

and they do a job that other people, it's very difficult for them. and i just wanted to make that comment, thank you. host: all right. and here is kff.org on medicaid work requirements. it says work in medicaid have resurfaced as part of a broader legislative package. it says congressional republicans, a budget outline includes requiring enrollees to work or look for work as a condition of receiving coverage. white the details are not yet available, analysis of an earlier proposal shows that medicaid enrollment would drop and that federal spending on medicaid would be reduced substantially, but that the policy would not increase employment. you can take a look at that on kff.org. here's another laura, cape cod, massachusetts, independent. good morning.

caller: hi, good morning. this whole make america great again is really about taking us back to when people had no health insurance and they had to go to an emergency room because they were so sick, because they couldn't afford a doctor, and so then the hospital, what happens with the hospital when there's nobody to pay for it? then the hospital starts to lose money. i mean, this is so absolutely reckless of the republicans, trying to put us back to the stone age of no insurance. you know, they want us to all buy in to private insurance, for profit insurance, where you basically get very little, and you have to pay a lot out of pocket. and this is just absolutely obscene to watch the president going all over the middle east, slashing all the -- flashing all the goals around the palaces over there, while they're trying to go after the poor in this country. it is absolutely disgusting.

and for republicans to sit there and try to talk about, oh, we're just going to, you know, just make some modifications. no, this is about blanket trying to destroy medicaid. the democrats are absolutely right, this is about giving money to the wealthiest of the wealthy. i mean, somebody like musk, who has hundreds of billions of dollars -- host: laura, would you be ok with any changes to those programs, either medicaid or snap? what do you think? caller: change what? what do they want to change? they want to get poor people to pay more into insurance? how about seniors? medicare has already been gutted. seniors have to pay way more money than they expected they had to pay because of the fact that decades after decades they've been chopping medicare to pieces by having the for-profit, like united

healthcare, trying to cut into the medicare, so they can make profits off of that. i mean, this is just all corruption, it's all about taking away from the poor, it's robin hood in reverse, taking from the poor to give to the wealthy. it's so obvious, you'd have to be an absolute idiot to not see what's going on. host: let's take a look at some of the plans, the republican plans for medicaid. you can certainly comment on these. first, enact new work requements for childless ults work or volunteer at least 80 hours a month or be enrolled in an educationa program in order to qualify for mecaid. it would require states to check a person's eligibility every six months instead of the current rate, which is every year. it would reduce federal pments to states that use their own dollars to cover undocumented immigrants. it would block federal dollars to beneficiaries with unverified citizenship or immigration status.

wonder what you think about that. you can certainly comment on those, if you agree with some or all of it. al in waterton, tennessee, independent. what do you think, al? caller: once again, let's talk about the percentage of people who pay income taxes. remember, only about 50% pay a opiniony in income taxes, and that's not by democrats or republican. your category to call in are ineffective and deceptive. your categories are democrat, republican and independent. where it really should be, net producers or net recipients. because the way you look at the budget, medicaid payments or whatever, it depends on whether you're getting stuff or paying into the system no. where in the constitution does it say that people should be taxed to give other people free medicine. that which cannot be sustained will not be sustained. there's no possible way that we can have open borders for

millions of people flowing into this country and then pay for their healthcare. it's impossible. so no, there shouldn't be medicare slash. it should be eliminated, like every other program that's not constitutional. host: you said medicare should be done away with? caller: well, i'm saying medicaid for sure. host: medicaid, ok. caller: this is when it's so difficult for a person with a calculator to come to the microphone and say vote for me, because i've got a calculator. my calculator says that we are bankrupt as a nation, and we have to stop spending more than we're taking in. right now, do you realize that we're having to borrow money to pay for the interest on our debt. and these people want the largess to keep going to people who aren't working and aren't citizens. it's unsustainable. host: al, you would end medicaid

completely, i heard you say that. what would you do about medicare? caller: i'm not sure about medicare, because i think people pay into the system for medicare. you have programs like medicaid, and there's free stuff for corporations too. the lobbyists have gotten involved. in terms of the medicaid, you have representation without taxation, instead of taxation out representation. host: i just want to mention to people that on your screen, you see president trump there descending the stairs from air force one in qatar. he has just arrived and deplaning, and we will, again, watch that, but this is the arrival here, greeting the qataris on the ground. new york, democrat, good morning. caller: good morning. thank you for c-span. i definitely oppose the changes

to the social safety net by this administration. and i say that because we all agree that we need to do something about waste, fraud and abuse. they're just cutting programs they don't like. right-wingers like the gentleman from tennessee who just called, they just want to eliminate things like medicaid because they really don't care about poor people. and the fact is, if you eliminated medicaid and poor people could not get healthcare, then they would get diseases and would all get sick. so it's very short-sided. any civilized country is going to give some kind of healthcare to people who can't afford it. i mean, are we civilized people, or is this like the law of the jungle here? and the reason why i say i don't trust this administration to do anything is i grew up in new york. i saw all the scams that trump pulled. i saw him file bankruptcy six

times, not pay his employees, not pay his contractors, not pay his suppliers. this is not the guy to solve our problems. this is the guy who's just over in the middle east. he's doing his crypto deals, and his billion dollar deals to make his family richer. i'll tell you what, this is not in the constitution. host: let's take a look at house democratic leader hakeem jeffries talking to a reporter about the g.o.p. tax plan. >> house republicans are trying to jam another g.o.p. tax scam down the throat of the american people. the overwhelming majority of the benefits will go to the wealthiest 1% in the united states of america. and they want to pay for it by sticking us with additional debt, trillions of dollars of additional debt, and by enacting the largest healthcare cut in american history along with the

largest cut to food assistance in american history, literally taking food out of the mouths of children, veterans, and seniors. it's shameful. the american people do not support this extreme and toxic bill, and we're going to hold every single house republican who votes for it accountable. host: hakeem jeffries. and this is william in tennessee, republican. hi, william. caller: hi, i'm a lifelong republican. i would consider myself a very extreme republican. i believe in a plunder tax for rich people who got rich illegally of 90%. i believe that president trump is not going to go after

medicaid per se. i think he's going to go after the fraud of people giving medicaid in several different states. that's what he's going after. he's not going after taking food, like hakeem said, food away from babies. that's ridiculous. we need to go after rich people and get them to pay their taxes. host: and how do you define rich? what kind of income? caller: i think we shouldn't tax anybody under two million dollars. host: at all? caller: that would immediately change the whole parameter of everything. it would be a game changer. everybody could start a business. everybody could become wealthy. and then we need to go after the people that get away with things like tom striker and every and

george -- and george soros and his son. host: glen in detroit. caller: how you doing? yes, i listened to the guy previously, we need to get rid of medicaid all together. first thing, medicaid is, when you're in a hospital, medicaid pays for doctors' training. medicaid pays for, when you graduate from medical school, you go to an internship, residency. these are teaching institutions that get paid by medicaid, because they're dealing with a lot of poor people. and if you really to want get rid of medicaid, there's going to be a lot of hospitals closing in these rural areas, where you got a lot of people on medicaid. so a lot of people need to think and do some homework on medicaid because they go in there and talk. host: and speaking of that,

kff.org has a lot of really good information, for instance, it says one in five people have medicaid nationally, but it varies according to states. the percentage of people who report having medicaid is 21% nationally, but ranges from 11% in utah to 34% in new mexico, and what it shows is you can go state to state and see the percentage, 34% here in new mexico, but, for instance, in north dakota it's only 13%. so you can see how it varies according to state. and that's the time that we've got for this sment. later on the "washington journal," we'll have democrat steve cohen of tennessee to talk about his concerns about the republican budget bill. and as a top democrat on the transportation subcommittee on aviation, we'll also get his take on the trump administration's plans to overhaul the nation's air traffic control system. up first, daniel payne of stat news joins us to explain

president trump's executive order on prescription drug pricing. we'll be right back. >> book tv every sunday on c-span2 features leading authors discussing their latest nonfiction book. here's aook at what's coming up this weekend. at 6:30 p.m. eastern, npr international correspondent emily feng shares her bk "let only red flowers bloom," where she reports on individuals in china who are pushing back against efforts to control free expression. and at 8:00 p.m. eastern, columbia university's john mcwhorter talks about languag and argues the current controversy over pro noun usage is largely overblown in his boo

"pro noun trouble." at 9:15astern, steve olson, author of "eruption," recalls mount st. helens in southwestern washington on may 18, 1980, whicresulted in the deaths of 57 people. then at 10:00 p.m. eastern on after wdsuniversity of michigan law professor leah litman explains why she believes e supreme court isn't making rulings based on legal principles in her book "lawless: how the supreme court runs on conservative grievancefrge theories and bad vibes." she is interew by author and nation magazine justice department ellie mistal. watch it on sunday and find a full schedule on your program guide or watch online any time at booktv.org. >> looking to contact your members of congress? well, c-span is making it easy for you, with our 2025

congressional directory. get essential contact information for government officials,ll in one place. this compact, spiral-bound guide contains bioand contact information for every house and senate member of the 119th congress, contact information on congressional committees, the president's cabinet, federal agencies, and state governors. e congressional director costs $32.95 plus ipping and handling, and every purchase helps support c-span's nonprofit operations. scan the code on theight or go to c-spahop.org to order your copy today. >> "washington journal" continues. host: welcome back. joining to us talk about president trump's drug pricing executive order is daniel payne, washington correspondent for stat news. welcome to the program. guest: thanks for having me. host: daniel, let's start with the executive order. it was signed on monday. what does it say? what does it actually do?

guest: it says a lot. what it does remains to be seen. it says that the administration is going to focus a lot of efforts across agencies, across h.h.s., and even across other agencies in washington, to lower drug prices. there's interest in maybe medicare, using its buying power to lower prices based on how much other countries pay, which is usually less than the united states, other developed nations. and it also looks to bring pharma companies to the table with the secretary of health and human services and see if they can make a deal before some of the policy levers are enacted. host: why is it that we pay so much more for prescription drugs? i mean, it is true, if you were to go to canada or europe, buy the exact same drug, it's cheaper than it is here.

why is that? guest: it's slightly true. i think that depending on who you ask, you get a lot of different absences on why that's the case. some countries have laws that require that the price drops. japan, for instance, has a price that requires prices drop every year. other countries can negotiate prices as a bloc and say if pharmaceutical company doesn't meet our price, our nation will just not buy. and that's a very strong lever. in the united states, we have a more fed rated system, so different people are negotiating different prices. and that maybe lowers bargaining people, some people would say. host: let's take a look at what the president said on monday when he was talking about the impact of that executive order. >> my administration will secure what we're calling most favored nation drug pricing. the principle is simple. whatever the lowest price paid for a drug in other developed countries, that is the price that americans will pay.

we're using the term other developed countries, because there are some countries that need some additional help, and that's fine. i think that's very good. some prescription drug and pharmaceutical prices will be reduced almost immediately by 50 to 80 to 90%. big pharma will either abide by this principle voluntarily or we'll use the power of the federal government to ensure that we are paying the same prices other countries. host: you mentioned big pharma. what has been the reaction so far in the pharmaceutical industry? guest: it's been mixed. lobbyists that work for these industries in washington have told me that they're very concerned that this could have a huge impact on their business. previous administrations, the last trump administration tried to implement a similar policy, and it was just for the medicare program. this is much broader. this is a more aggressive approach. so some pharmaceutical companies are very concerned about that.

on the other hand, the markets rose. the markets did not see this as a huge concern. host: the markets assist a whole or the pharmaceutical companies? guest: both. for pharmaceutical companies as well. analysts said they didn't think it was likely this policy would really, at the end of the day, be enacted in a way that really impacted the bottom line. host: they just thought it was talk and would not actually happen? like the prices would not actually come down on those drugs? guest: exactly. or they thought it wouldn't come down in a way that would impact pharmaceutical companies' bottom line. they see legal challenges on the horizon, and certainly pharmaceutical companies are considering how they might challenge this policy. and they see that this is just a very complex policy in general. it's hard to take the calculations of what other developed countries pay and make sense of what we should pay. there's a lot of complexity

here. host: if you have a question about president trump's drug pricing executive order that was signed on monday, you can give us a call. daniel payne will be with us until 8:00 a.m. eastern. the numbers are democrats, 202-748-8000. republicans, 202-748-8001. independents, 202-748-8002. you can also text at 202-748-8003. you mentioned the previous administration and medicare. obviously the government has a lot of control over medicare. it's a government program. so how is that going? is that continuing? i think that there are only the top 10 most common drugs that were on the list. what's going on with that? guest: it's a great question. it's something the administration said when they announced this policy that they weren't going to say exactly what they were going to do in medicare to accomplish this goal.

some very smart analysis from my colleagues says there's sort of an implicit, the administration is essentially saying you should come to the table and deal with us or else the government has all of these actions that they can take to bring the drug price down, force it down. but essentially that they would rather negotiate on behalf of all americans, not for direct consumer pricing, and not just for medicare. they said medicare announcements may be forthcoming. they may be coming in the coming days. but i think that's a big unknown. how will they do it? will they do it through a pilot program or do it through the i.r.a., which was biden's sort of flagship legislation that allowed medicare to negotiate prices of drugs? host: you mentioned most favored nation status.

what does he mean by that? guest: he means that we would look at, the united states would look at other countries and see what they pay, and that the united states would something more comparable to what they're comparable. comparable to that lower price. exactly how it would compare is sort of up in the air. when he posted, he said lowest price, but exactly the details of that calculation are still unknown. the executive order, i think it's important to say, just doesn't have a lot of detail right now. and that means there's still a lot of open questions about how exactly this would be implement. host: this is supposed to impact people are private health insurance as well? guest: potentially, yes, that is part of the plan. the secretary of health and human services might be able to negotiate for direct consumer

pricing. host: is the administration expecting to negotiate with each pharmaceutical company separately? guest: it's hard to say. host: is it drug by drug or company by company, or is it kind of overall? guest: it seems that they're focused on particular drugs, drugs that are very high cost for the united states, and drugs that the united states pays a much higher price for than our peers. host: talk to callers and go to madeleine in manassas, virginia, republican. caller: good morning. i want to make a statement, and them i want to ask a question about my medicare. my statement is i tried to get on the last time about medicaid. i know people on med skated that's raised their children on medicaid. hello? host: yes, keep going. we can hear you. caller: have raised their children on medicaid or senior citizens are still on medicaid and the man goes out to work

every day. i know two families like that that are on medicaid. these are what donald trump is looking for. we need to clean it out. now, my problem is, i've worked since i was 18, paid into medicare, still paying into medicare, $19 a month -- $197 a month. and as of january 1, i never dreamed that i would not be able to buy my medication. i'm now diabetic at 80 years old and can't afford to buy the pills because when they changed it on january 1, my medicare, the pills for my diabetes, i can't afford to buy. they're from $435 to $400. they cut the price of insulin, but destroyed those of us who are not on the insulin, i'm on pill, but no longer can afford it. what are they going to do for us

old people that can't afford to buy our medicine that's paid into medicare all of our life and are still paying into medicare? host: what happened january 1? with the price of medications. guest: the prices, like she said, the price of insulin has dropped, and medicare is beginning to negotiate some of these prices for a few years ahead. i think that concern is exactly why president trump announced this executive order and signed it. even though it's not clear exactly how it's going to work, it's clear this is a pain point for a lot of americans, and it's a priority for the trump administration. it was a priority for the biden administration. democrats and republicans both see this is a major policy thing they need to tackle, no matter how difficult it is to figure out exactly how to accomplish that goal. host: we've got a text from dave in dalton, georgia, drug pricing is simple. companies give money to politicians w allow them to

chgehat they want. it's that sple. check the contributions just to senators. have you looked at that, contributions by big pharma to congressmen and women? guest: absolutely. and there certainly is a lot of contributions and a big lobby. a lot of lobbyists out there. but those lobbyists would say this is how new drugs are developed. this is how we get breakthrough technology and innovation. we need a lot of money to do that. i think pharmaceutical executives are starting to say maybe we should look at how much the united states is having to pay for that innovation compared to other countries. and i think that, in a way, that's sort of a new line. you used to hear a lot of executives say we need this money to innovate in a strong way. a lot of trials don't work, or a lot of medications don't end up on the market, and it's very expensive to run the trials.

and yet, now i think there is an acknowledgment that maybe we should share the price more evenly, which is what the president said yesterday. he is making this argument that drug companies will not end up with less money. i think some drug companies are not so sure that's true, but -- host: he's saying other countries are just going to pay more for the same drugs than they were. guest: exactly. host: does tariffs play into this at all? a lot of our prescription drugs do come from overseas. are they going to be tariffs under the new administration, or what's happening with that? guest: tariffs are being investigated right now by the government in terms of the national security risk for pharmaceutical makers to not be based in the united states, for that supply chain to be overseas. the administration says these are separate issues, that the tariff issue is a separate policy initiative for national security, and this is an

initiative to bring down prices for american patients. but they are connected. if you're a pharmaceutical executive or a company trying to develop these breakthrough innovations, these are both threats potentially to your bottom line, and there's been a lot of talk about how that will impact these things. host: here's susan in clarksville, tennessee, independent. good morning. caller: hi, good morning. i just want to say i am a never trumper. i would like to say that a medication that i take was $6,000 a month before biden. president biden got it down to $4,000 a month. and now it's back up to $7,000 a month. that's just insane. i do feel like big pharma and the politicians, they're hand in hand like the n.r.a.

so i don't know. it would be nice if he can lower that price, but i don't see it happening. thank you. host: comment, daniel? guest: it's an interesting point that's being made. i think that idea is breaking through a little bit in both parties, this idea that the health establishment has been sort of captured by big industries and that the government is doing exactly what these huge industries want. you hear now both democrats saying that, and you also hear the likes of secretary robert f. kennedy jr. saying that the industry has too much power. their policy approach to handle that may be very different and seem to be thus far, but again, that concern is sort of scrambling the normal partisan lines in this industry. host: let's talk to doug in virginia, republican. hi, doug. caller: good morning. i'm trying to find out, i mean,

people that are on diabetes have the monitors to monitor your glucose so you don't employ -- don't go too low. but the government won't way for them. i'm a retired veteran. i'm on medicare and social security. i don't take a shot of insulin, because i choose to fight it with pills, which keeps the cost down to the government. but they won't pay for it, and you get a blind ear when you talk to anybody in the government about it. they don't want for talk about it: tricare said medicare won't approve that equipment, like the monitoring systems that you can use, change them out every 14 days, that's why they won't pay for it, because they won't. and it doesn't make any sense. our veterans should be the best

that's out there. guest: it's a great point. this gets back to the idea that our country has a fed rated health system. there are a lot of players. it's very complex. how coverage works is very complex between the v.a., medicare, medicaid, tricare, much less all the private every private insurers. and those rules change systems depending how they negotiate with companies with providers. it's very difficult to make sense of it. as i think many patients have firsthand experience about. host: you wrote an article called our biggest burning questions on trump's order to bring down drug prices. one of those questions, is it legal? guest: this will be a key question going forward. there are a lot of pharmaceutical companies, legal teams that are thinking about this right now. is this something that we can challenge in court? and some attorneys i talked to

said yes. after seeing the order, we believe that we have strong challenges against this, and they feel effectively that they must go to court. host: we have a question on x, asking which couries use the most medications,ercentage or volume. do you happen to know that? guest: i do not happen to know that, unfortunately. i would guess some with a large population. host: here's ed in florida, democrat. good morning. caller: hi, good morning. two of the 10 drugs that were negotiated in the first round were blood thinners. they were on that list because they were some of the most paid for, expensive, and widely used drugs. with part d insurance and deductible and co-pay, my first prescription of the year would run about $600.

i buy it from canada in the generic form for $90. the reason i can't do that here is because congress extended the patent protection when the patents were up on these drugs, and continue to keep them at these rates, while the rest of the world, not just canada, but the rest of the world has generics available. i hear too much talk about not extending patents on these drugs that are so highly priced. do you see any movement on that front? guest: i think certainly that is also a concern that's talked about increasingly. part of the issue that the current administration and past administrations, but also patient ad very indicates and many other folks are seeing, it's very difficult to get

legislation passed in this town. even legislation that has wide spread appeal, support across parties. it can sit on a shelf for months and months, if not years. so even when there is perhaps an issue that a lot of people agree on, it can be hard to change. guest: on x, does donald trump's e.o. effectively cancel our current pharma deals, or does current pricing stand until a new agreement is reached? i believe current pharma deals maybe being what the last administration negotiated? guest: i believe so. for the moment, it seems that current deals remain in place. but the administration may seek to renegotiate those deals under these terms that they've laid out. host: here's james in indianapolis, indiana, republican. good morning, james. caller: good morning. host: go right ahead. caller: yes, i was in the

biopharmaceutical industry for 26 years. i believe that we should pay the same as european countries do for medications. i don't think it's right that we have to pay two and three times higher than european countries. host: james, what did you do in the industry? caller: sales. host: so you were selling to doctors, to pharmacies, who? caller: hospitals, pharmacies, physicians. host: and you noticed a difference in the price? caller: oh, yeah, we would talk to our canadian counterparts, and prices were significantly different. host: do you have any insight into why that was specifically between theist and canada? caller: the insight was the lobbying effort by the pharmaceutical companies to

maintain the higher prices. the lobbying effort was extensive. and also to extend patent whenever there was the possibility of losing a patent, the lobbying effort would be intensified. host: any comment, daniel? guest: no. host: a democrat, jonesboro, tennessee. hi, summer. caller: hi. i have a question. i lost my insurance this past week. my medications cost $1,200 a month. it's not life-altering medication. it just keeps my mental health in check. is this new legislation going to help me any until i get insurance again? is there any way i can get my medication cheaper or something?

guest: this order is going to take time to get implemented. once we even see the specific policies, it will take time. and then it likely is going to get caught up in court challenges. i think that this order at least is probably want going to have an immediate -- is not going to have an immediate impact. host: president trump signed an executive order in his first term. nothing happened with that. can you tell us about what the difference between that one and this one, is there a different approach, or is it the same idea? guest: certainly a different approach here. in the first term, trump was targeting one specific part of medicare for those drugs, for american patients. and in this order, he's looking to target all drugs potentially in the united states with direct to consumer pricing. that's far more aggressive, not

only in scope, but also more aggressive in the potential impact of what the administration is willing to do or if they don't come to the table. they're threatening perhaps action from the d.o.j., from the f.t.c., from agencies that are not usually involved in these sorts of matters, or haven't been at least the first time that this policy has been introduced. host: the president put a time limit of 30 days. what happens after 30 days? guest: the secretary of h.h.s. is going to produce some price targets for some of these drugs, and from there they will try to negotiate a deal to bring prices down through those targets for the drug. host: all right, that is daniel payne, washington correspondent for stat. you can find his work at statnews.com.

thanks so much for joining us. guest: thanks for having me. host: in about half an hour, we will have a conversation with democrat steve cohen of tennessee. he's a top democrat on the transportation subcommittee on aviation. we'll get his take on the trump administration's plans to overhaul the nation's air traffic control system. that's at about 8:30 a.m. this rning, eastern time. but first, we are going to open forum. after the break, you can start calling in now, the numbers are 202-748-8000 for democrats. 202-748-8001 for republicans. independents, 202-748-8002. you can also text us at 202-748-8003 or reach us on social media. we'll be right back.

>> ernest played ivy league football at colombia university and was the old brooklyn dodgers nfl franchise before becoming a city hall lawyer and a brain trust a to president franklin roosevelt. while on the payroll of the national columnist, he mingled with the famous and powerful but his status as a spy remained a secret, hiding in plain sight. all of this is the way at the hanover square press introduces readers to the book "the invisible spy." >> author thomas mayer with his book "the invisible spy." on this episode ofk notes plus with our host brian lam. book notes plus is available wherever you get your podcasts and on the c-span now app.

>> there are many ways to listen to c-span radio, anytime, anywhere in the washington, d.c. area, listen on 90.1 fm, use our free c-span now app or go online to c-span.org/radio. on serious xm radio on 455, and on your smart speaker by simply saying play c-span radio. hear the live program washington journal daily at 7:00 eastern, listen to house and senate committee hearings, news conferences and other public affairs events live throughout the day. for the best way to hear what is happening to washington with fast-paced reports and live interest points and analysis, catch washington today weekdays at 5:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. eastern. listen to programs on c-span radio, anytime, anywhere. c-span, democracy unfiltered. >> "washington journal" continues. host: will go back to washington

journal. we are in open forum taking your calls. if you would like to talk about the reconciliation markups in congress you can certainly do so. the president is overseas, he was in riyadh yesterday and spoke at the saudi investment forum. here he is. [video clip] pres. trump: after discussion, with your crown prince, and also with the president of turkiye who called meet the other day and asked for a very similar thing, among others and friends of mine and people i have a lot of respect for in the middle east, i will order the cessation of sanctions against syria in order to give them a chance at great things.

[applause] [applause] pres. trump: oh what i do for the crown prince. the sanctions were brutal and crippling and served as an important function. now it is their time to shine. we are taking them off and they are going to have based on the

people and spirit i am hearing about, if i say good luck, syria, show us something very special like they have done in saudi arabia. they are going to show it something special. host: that was the president making news that the u.s. would lift sanctions on syria and that he would meet with the new leader of a syria and this is the new york times with that picture, trump meets with militant now leads syria. president trump's meeting was a remarkable turnabout for the uprising. he said he would lift sanctions on syria. there is the picture. here is the meeting between the two leaders taking place in saudi arabia. that is the crown prince looking on. let's go to calls per to evelyn in baltimore, democrat. caller: i was thinking about

donald trump. every time he talks, he talks about biden. he is always telling everybody that everything he is doing is because of biden. ok, biden is gone if you want to make things better, just do it. i have never heard of president talked to so bad about a previous president all the time i have been watching politics. as far as medicaid, i don't understand why at the united states doesn't have money for medicaid when they can send money to israel, ukraine. they send money all around the world but when they need to fix our budget, it seems like they always mess with the people at the bottom. thank you. host: a quick update, the ways and means committed that overseas tax policy has just now finished.

they have gone all night and wrapped up their work. this is mike, cleveland, ohio, republican. caller: a couple of things. first of all, on the prescriptions and the costs, i try to get on earlier but when we buy something ourselves as consumers, we shop for the best price. there is nothing to prevent hospitals and medical systems from buying our stuff from canada. let canada order it at 184 1/10 of the prize and let them forget up to us at 2%. we will get it for 2/10 of the price and the pharmaceutical companies will have a problem trying to deal with the scam they are going on with right now. when you look at us, hospitals and doctors should all be buying their medicines from other countries instead of paying the price here. that is just common sense.

on the earlier shows when you were talking about medicaid being chopped, nobody is giving us specifics on what people are being eliminated from the medicaid or medicare, either one. we are trying to clean up the fraud and excess and all of the illegals getting medical coverage here that we obviously ballooned in the last four years. for the last caller who said she didn't understand why trump was always talking about fighting, he gave us the highest inflation, worst employment history and history and caused everything to go up in price beyond our capacity to adjust with our incomes and for in regards to that, i want to say that i am on medicare and medicaid and last year in august, the biden administration cut my food stamps by 20 5%,

which is devastating to me. so you guys always report these things and let it go as they go but the bottom line is, nobody is getting down to the truth and the facts before they are commenting and being misled. host: washington, d.c., independent line. go ahead. caller: good morning. i would just like to stay that the united states is the greatest terrorist organization on the planet. they have murdered and killed more government officials and overthrown more government with their 700 odd bases around the world shared right now they are trying to assassinate a president. they are trying to take care of their people without sending their raw materials to the rest

of the world. host: how do you know the united states is trying to assassinate the leader there? caller: because it is on the news. and if you look at usa today or see or bbc, you will see that this is their plan. they are talking about he is using their material for the people. host: it's on the bbc that the united states is trying to assassinate him? caller: yes. host: we will look that up and ensure that if we can find it. it marks, silver spring, maryland, democrat. caller: thank you for the opportunity it. i would like to make three quick basic points. one, if the republicans want to look to a role model, it would be john mccain who stuff the

destruction of the aca way back. if you do follow the continuing resolution, it would destroy the marketplace and my second quick point is, it would be great if the american public could see on a positive thing, the other day was an poster day where you could have seen nine hundred posters of young scientists making medical breakthroughs. so you could see where your money goes, unlike the slashing of medical research being conducted now and unlike the slashing of public service that

is being conducted now. the last point quickly is that there is a suppose that in d.e.i. hunt at the library of congress. the head librarian, and excellent -- expert in library science was fired because some books supposedly carrying d.e.i.. guess what american public, the library of congress also has mein kampf and has protocols of zion, blatant antisemitic works. why are they there, because it is a library. it is a citadel of knowledge and the library and expert has been replaced by a justice department official who is acting as if he

is joseph -- who is going to be the propagandist cleaning up anything that doesn't fit the administration's definition of worthiness. host: we are in open form. the numbers are democrats (202) 748-8000, (202) 748-8001 republicans, (202) 748-8002 independents. next caller, go ahead. caller: we have the trouble with the airports. it is simple. you put a surcharge on everybody that flies. why should also help us people who don't fly have to pay for them that do flight. just put a surcharge on the

flight. smarter people than me can't figure this out until it is paid back. host: here is kyrsten in annapolis. caller: thank you to c-span for affording us to all call in with our opinions. the previous caller covered my point that i wanted to make about the library of congress so i will move on from that one. i was once again disturbed and disappointed to hear it this morning my husband tell me that the trump administration was either trying to or had passed a law to reduce the federal minimum wage to $13. the war against the poor in this country is just mind boggling. my second point is something

that i read about yesterday which is the thrust private right wing to have an article five convention, looking at july 4, 2026, around the july area time frame of 2026. have 19 states who have signed up to join this discussion to revise article five. they just need six more estates and all of the frightening and terrifying things this administration has it done and is in the process of doing, i friend probably this the most troubling. host: regarding the minimum wage, this is what i've found, it says why trump put the minimum wage for federal contract workers. that was about a month ago. is that what you are talking about? caller: i think so, and i have to say i am just bouncing back

up what my husband told me this morning so perhaps i should have vetted that before i got on the open forum. it is not the federal minimum wage nationally. this is for federal contract workers. caller: ok, thank you. host:. is chuck schumer on the floor at talking about how he would slow down consideration of justice department nominees as he seeks answers over president trump acceptance of a luxury jet from qatar. [video clip] >> the american people deserve to know the facts. president trump has told the american people this is "a free jet." does that mean the qatari's are delivering a ready claimed with all of the security measures already built-in? if so a shark who install those security measures and how do we know they were properly installed? why would he take the risk of trusting any foreign country to

do this sensitive work? if not, what security modifications would be needed to ensure air force one is safe to use from a foreign source. if this is as he promised a free jet, will the qatari's pay for the highly tentative installations or will american taxpayers cover the cost. how much will they cost american taxpayers, hundreds of millions of dollars? billions of dollars? how much will they cost? if the american taxpayers are forced to pay for this temporary plane, doesn't mean the u.s. government will cancel the contract for the future boeing planes, if so, how much will that cancellation cost? if not, why are american taxpayers being asked to spend

hundreds of millions of dollars or more on a plane that will only be used for a year or two? additionally, who in the trump administration was responsible for this deal question of what are the parameters of this deal in which country brought it up first, us or them? what is qatar being covered in return? considering past security disasters such as the u.s. embassy in moscow, what are the security risks of this arrangement? and finally, as this gift not think corruption? the attorney general must testify before both the house and senate to explain why it gifting donald trump a private jet does not violate the clause which requires congressional approval or any ethics law. so until the attorney general explains her blatantly inept decision and we get complete and comprehensive to these and other

questions, i will place a hold on all political nominees to the department of justice. host: that was senator chuck schumer who asked a lot of questions. this is political, trump's free plane is not so free. the plane would require a pricey and complicated overhauls to serve as air force one. " here that here is kevin buckley a former air force official who saw the air force replacement, he said it is what is inside is that that matters. it is hardened and secure and survivable. the aircraft would need to be torn down and rebuilt from the inside out including overhauling electrical wiring, and power systems to install sub -- secure communications it would need

shielding. here is a former acquisitions chief, both the cost of a retrofit like this would be on the order of a heavy maintenance cycle which is in the tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars. here is dan calling from palm bay, florida, republican. caller: a couple things i wanted to talk about. so wouldn't it still be cheaper to overhaul that plane than to buy a brand-new one? host: the air force has already paid for the new ones to boeing. it has just been delayed. so they should have been delivered. caller: boeing is having troubles building the plane because they are having manufacturing issues of their own. but here is a scenario.

you ask your mother to do your laundry and she does it and finds a hundred dollars in your laundry and she then asks you what do you want me to do with this hundred dollars for the democrat turnaround cuts the mother out and spray-painted her car. how does that make sense? ask pbs when flag day is. if you did, it would be on june 14, which is donald trump's birthday and happens to be the same day. so i wish democrats would be free thinkers and find out that flag day is donald trump's birthday and just so happens to be the same day. on flag day, what happens? parades, military things, things like that kid so when you read the pbs article that said that donald trump's birthday will have all of these big parades, it has nothing to do with his for the day, it is flag day. i want to talk about the muslim brotherhood also. i wish there would be more

nation paid to them. they seem to be trying to take over everywhere, germany, the usa and place like that, texas colorado. why is no one talking about the muslim brotherhood taking over? host: what do you think about the relationship between the muslim brotherhood and qatar which is right now? caller: i don't want anything to do with any of that. i don't think he should accept the plane or meeting over there dealing with them because great with any of that. host: we got your three points. jeffrey, louisville, kentucky, democrat. caller: i see where they called the palestinians that israel --

them but they call it prisoners. but they call israelis hostages. the racism of america is so blatant. we support the genocide of a whole nation. and then they talk about airplanes. we have lost all of our moral fiber. you had three police officers who stood by and watched a man be killed and archery from them go to fort nothing. the morality of america has fallen and that is why we are in

the situation we are in. and they talk about writing fake something to do with inflation. no, it was covid and our greedy billionaires. and why should poor people pay for rich takes taxes? it is unbelievable what this country has become. host: allen in wisconsin, independent line. caller: good morning. after the last caller from kentucky. i want to talk about student loans today. people don't realize how catastrophically failed the student loan program is. two thirds of all borrowers are unable to make payment today and it is probably going to go up. this is a big government issue. the department of education makes a profit around a hundred $10 billion a year on their

loans. the people of kentucky, for example, all of the kentucky exports, soybean, corn, tobacco combined are $1.3 billion. the department of education takes $1.3 billion out of kentucky every year in interest for federal student loans. rand paul yesterday was saying yesterday how people need to pay their loans. i just have to ask, why does a libertarian like rand paul fighting so hard for this predatory big government loan scam? if anything, senator paul should be calling for the immediate return of bankruptcy rights to all student loans. the founding fathers called for a uniform bankruptcy rights in the constitution enumerated. the bankruptcy rights have been

taken away uniquely from the student loans and this was a fatal mistake and now we see the consequences. bankruptcy rights have got to be returned and every republican in congress knows that full well. host: to new york, a democrat. good morning. caller: how are you. about biden, he has been one of the best presidents we have had in years. the inflation came from covid. we all live together in this world. when we going to get together as one family under god as they say we are and we never do it. you look at the the republicans house, it is all white here these are things that make a big difference in people's neighborhoods.

i have worked with white guys all my life and never had a problem with them and they never had a problem with me. once trump got in, we are not friends anymore. this is ridiculous. we all know we are men and we live together and we have to look out for each other. trump is only looking out for those rich people and not us. you see a white middle-class people around the country. they have no money and they are backing him and i don't understand it. host: mary in milton, georgia, independent. caller: good morning, i am a first time caller. host: welcome. caller: thank you. i wanted to make a comment about trump's trip to the middle east yesterday. it was very disturbing, to say the least, to see him cozy up to

the saudi crown prince. let us never forget, and these are facts, that it was proven that saudi arabia crown prince was the person that ordered the brutal killing of journalists jamaal khashoggi in 2013, which was terrible. that should never be forgotten or forgiven. let's also never forget that 15 of the 19 hijackers that attacked the united states on 9/11 were saudi agents. these are the facts that should never be forgiven or forgotten and lastly i have a comment, trump is a stain on america and history. thank you. host: this is the front page of the washington post this morning. in mid-east, trump remakes u.s. foreign policy. that is him and meeting with the crown prince of saudi arabia. it also said is it overlaps the

interest of the family business. many potential conflicts as president son chase real estate deals in the region. that is the front page of the washington post. this is gene, tennessee, democrat. -- jean, tennessee, and democrat. caller: i don't think that trump should've gone to saudi arabia. as far as the airplane, there is more than meets the eye. he should be thinking about us here and of his personal desires . his personal desires are over negotiating with foreign leaders and he should be here trying to straighten our country out. he has all these charges against him and he is throwing people in jail and sending them out of the country and saying they are criminals when they are not. he needs to tend to his business over here in this country, i

think. host: this is politico, the indication of aliens act for deportations but the ruling emphasizes the need for more due process in advance of the deportations. it says, a federal judge for the first time has backed president donald trump's indication of the alien enemies act, or power he's used to deport venezuelans he claims are part of a criminal gang. a u.s. district judge to the bench in pennsylvania upheld the march 14 proclamation declaring that a violent gang based in venezuela is mounting an incursion into the united states . that is at politico if you would like to read the rest of the article. this is judith, fort worth, texas, democrat. caller: talking about medicare and medicaid yesterday. i wish for all the seniors, a

year and a half ago i ended up paying a debt to human services. you have the foreigners coming over and getting a lot of things for free and it is true. host: host: this is larry, pennsylvania, independent line. caller: i would like to reply to the lady who started the segment off wondering why it donald trump is always talking about president biden. president biden with the votes will never get over that. he will never get over that and that is to come back on the person who beat him. the president -- the democrats made a bad move thinking anybody could have a trump in 2024.

pelosi and schumer, the obama's, they should be prosecuted for the political mistake they made. i am sure now everybody that has any brains is swishing that president biden was our president again. host: it is woodrow in georgia, republican. caller: how are you doing? host: good. caller: i just wanted to make a comment to all of democrats. no one has been prosecuted within president trump, nobody has got their ear shot and almost got murdered once or twice but him and they won't give them a fair shot. give the man a chance. he gave everybody else a chance. they are always hollering about taking foreign gifts. the obama's nobody saw all that

money that was being sent over. i don't hear anything but fluff and whiners. a lot of people don't pay taxes and everyone that came across the border, who is taking care of the welfare system, we are. it should we -- be that we can take some of these people and send them back. they can't going to other countries without proper documentation so why do people think they can come here? host: this is francis, maryland, democrats. caller: i just wanted to say we are all god-fearing children of god and as far as troop is concerned, he doesn't care about no one but himself. he is there to line his pockets

with our tax dollars and everybody he can scrounge up around the world is carried out in but himself. the lady said she didn't understand why the people voted for him and it is because they are all up like trump. they just care about themselves. everybody that voted for trump is only thinking probably sells. host: here is randy in wisconsin, republican line. caller: i wish we sure could quit talking about this white black and planning our pockets. quit it. we are all gods children and we all have to get together. they are talking about saudi arabia being involved with 9/11 and other things. look at what the japanese did to us in 1941 and now they are at one of our best allies.

trip is overseas. we don't know what he is talking about with the other leaders. i hope he is over there trying to make friends so this whole world will come together and quit the terrorism and all of this bad stuff that is going on. now syria is wanting to talk, which is great. if the united states has had the bomb forever and if we were going to obama someone, we would have done it. it is for our protection. everybody knows country should have a bomb but if they say they are going to wipe out another country, then you can't let them have the bomb, like iran. i am sure that once trump gets done and iran sees that maybe everybody is coming together and

maybe against them, maybe they will come around. but at least trump is trying to bring the world together in a way where we all respect everybody's sovereignty and have a good life. host: later on we will talk to democrat steve cohen, democrat from tennessee to talk about his concerns of the trump budget. and we will talk about his take on the plans to overhaul the nation's air traffic control system. at the top of the hour at 9:00 a.m. eastern, and author and former trump economist stephen moore talks about the republican budget and the economic agenda.

we will be right back. ♪ >> book tv every sunday features leading authors discussing their latest nonfiio books. here is a look at what is coming up this weekend. at 6:30 p.m. eastern, the npr international correspondent shares her book "let onlyed flowers bloom," where sheet reports on indiduals and china pushing bacagainst efforts to control free expression. at:00 p.m. eastern, columbia university tks about the is an evolution of language and argues that the current controversy over pronoun usage in america is largely overblown in his book "pronoun trouble." steve olson, author of "eptn," because the eptn at mount saint helens in washington on may 18, 1980, which resulted in the depths of

57 people. and then at 10:00 p.m. eastn on afterwards, univeitof michigan law professor leah litman explains why she believes the supreme court is it rulings based on legal principles in her book "lawless: how the supreme court runs on conserviv grievance, fringe theories and bad vibes." she is interviewed by a justice correspondent. watch book tv every sunday on c-span two and find a full schedule on your program guide or watch online anytime at book tv.org. >> looking to contact your members of congress, c-span makes it easy with our 2025 directory. get essential iormation for officials all in one place. this compact, spiral-bound guide contains bio and information for every member of the 119th

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play. download it for free today. c-span, democracy unfiltered. >> democracy is always an unfinished creation. >> democracy is worth dying for. >> democracy belongs to us all. >> we are here in the sanctuary of democracy. >> great responsibilities fall once again to the great democracies. >> american democracy is bigger than any one person. >> freedom and democracy must be constantly guarded and protected. >> we are still at our core a democracy. >> this is a massive victory for democracy and freedom. >> "washington journal" continues. host: dropping back good we are joined by rep. steve cohen,

democrat from tennessee, ranking member on the subcommittee for aviation and a member of the judiciary committee. welcome to the program. guest: thank you. it is good to see c-span is still funded by the government. host: is not funded by the government. guest: what a disappointment to elon musk. i think he would like to doge you. host: three house committees, ways and means, energy, commerce and agriculture on the reconciliation bill. what is your sense of where that is going? guest: the republicans might have trouble because some of them want larger relief for the property taxpayers and a state and local taxes called salt and others don't want it as large. that is a schism in the republican caucus and house and others don't want to see as many

cuts. chip roy wants more cuts and this adds to the deficit. they claim to want to limit the deficit but they don't. it is about getting more and more money who have more and more money who don't need any more money. that is their mantra. trump's only major accomplishment in his first term was the tax cuts which economists say it did not stimulate the economy and was not successful in creating any boom in the economy and they never do. they have done these things before and said it is good for the economy and it will stimulate and it never does. he is trying to do it again and never did it but he also wants to take care of himself. he and every member of his family, adult member makes enough money to where they will get tremendous tax advantage. it is beneficial to people over

at 400,000 but really the millionaires and billionaires that get the big tax cuts. and everyone in his family are millionaires. these people make millions and millions and they are all over in the middle is trying to get golf courses and resorts and senior care homes and what ever. and he is going to try facilitate that on his trip secondarily to getting an airplane. the republicans have some problems and i think rand paul is against the bill because it increases the deficit. they are not altogether but they will probably get it together and they will sit down and the bottom line they will probably listen to trump and trump wants to get the big beautiful bill. host: you mentioned a lot of things and one was the deficit and most would agree the deficit , national debt is a big problem. are there cuts that the democrats would be willing to

accept to the medicaid program? are there changes that could save money the democrats would be willing to accept? guest: i don't think so. medicaid -- you have to start at the bottom and provide like franklin roosevelt talked about, provide enough to people who have too little and not more to people who already have in abundance. these people are giving to the abundance and not caring to those at the bottom. medicaid is one of the things that keeps people alive and it keeps role hospitals going -- rural hospitals going which keeps people alive print a of out of medicaid and snap payment which is sustenance, besides helping the farmers who grow the products and the people who need that to stay alive and are living at the bottom economically in the country to make them the cuts, that is wrong and not where you should be. a moral society should not be that.

i don't think the democrats will go along with any of those. if you want to cut out the tax breaks for the rich, that would help cut out the deficit. the republicans say they are concerned about the deficit, the biggest place to help with the deficit is to get more revenue to the government that you can put into deficit reduction and they could take out all of the tax breaks to the wealthy. that is a big chunk of money that could take care of it. that is the prime consideration is tax cuts to the wealthy, not the deficit. host: if you would like to join our conversation with rep. steve cohen, democrat of tennessee, call us on our lines by party. democrats (202) 748-8000, (202) 748-8001 for republicans, and (202) 748-8002 for independents. you mentioned taking out tax cuts for the rich but republicans say if the tax cuts are not extended, it would be the largest tax increase in history.

guest: i don't that -- don't know that is necessarily the case. it is the tariffs. he does but the largest tax cuts because the tariffs took away congress power and it is illegal what he did. it is more of the grab all you can style of politics. that was the biggest tax increase paid this might be the second but these were temporary taxes past and it took out almost all of the inheritance tax. that is where the super rich get to pass the money onto their children with no taxes to the government. they keep raising it. they get away with giving kids the money and it is the inherited wealth that doesn't help others. it is gaetz wanting to give away all of his money and that is a

voluntary thing but he is showing character. warren buffett is giving away a lot of his money. the rich people are giving people to money because they understand everybody needs help and they need to give it away to 501(c)(3) is to eliminate polio and help people that might get age from hiv and they are trying to do that. musk and trump are like more and more. they are at the trough and it needs to stop. host: you are the top democrat on the subcommittee overseeing aviation. i want to ask you about newark airport. as you know, there event radar and equipment outages there and they have been reports of staffing shortages, poor working conditions for air traffic controllers. where do you think this is coming from? is it from doge cuts or is it simply aging infrastructure? does the whole system need to be overhauled?

guest: we are having a hearing tomorrow with three experts, not for the administration. the administration would supply witnesses. we are having a hearing on the bill we passed last year that has money in there for more and more air traffic controllers and more money for the school in oklahoma city to get more air traffic controllers. we had a good bill and it is going to be helpful but it has to be implemented. we will get some answers. i was in newark i guess it was a week ago friday and my plane was supposed to leave at 7:00 and i got there at 4:00 and the tobe it was delayed until 9:00. i stayed around and hung around the airport and there was never anybody at the gate from united. united didn't put anybody at the gate to tell you what was going on and then at 8:30 i got a notice saying it moved until 10:00 and still nobody at the

gate. then two or three minutes later they said you are leaving tomorrow morning. i saw on my own a flight to dulles and i went to two different dates and nobody at united wanted to help me. the plane was supposed to leave and nobody was there. and then the next lines said they were off at 9:00. i finally got somebody to help me and he was not nice particularly but begrudgingly helped me and got me on the dulles flight and then sat on the tarmac for an hour and 15 minutes and finally got to dulles. this was before all of this. newark as a mess. i don't know what the cause is. i am planning to ask questions of the experts. was this all from previous times ? the system was outdated before

the administration changed and i guess it was but there were not problems like the 92nd hiatus. host: let's hear from the administration. as the secretary of transportation sean duffy last week talking about wanting to completely modernize the air traffic control system. [video clip] >> so what we are going to do, we are going to rebuild some towers and sump centers. not all of them but rebuild a few of them that need to be rebuilt. there will be some bricks and mortar to this plan. however, everything else is really easy. everything else that controls the airspace is going to be brand-new. we are going to have new telecom , new fiber throughout the system, brand-new radios and our towers to communicate between air traffic controllers and with airplanes. we are going to have a ground

radar and new sensors on carmax and airports so the air traffic controllers in the tower are looking out with binoculars to see airplanes, if it is cloudy or rainy and the weather is bad, it becomes very challenging. we want to have all of the tool so they can see where aircraft are at the airport on their screens and terminals paired we hear a lot of the bumps and scrapes happening at airports, we want to make sure air traffic controllers have the tools to keep airplanes separated and we want to allow them to see that through the panels and screens. we are going to have a new flight management system that will bring efficiency to the airspace so more people are flying in more planes in the air now than ever. host: your reaction to that? are you in support of that and why has that happened yet? why did the air traffic control

system get to this point in the first place? guest: that is what i am going to ask on thursday. i'm not sure why it did but i will certainly listening to him and it sounds wonderful and good to get the new programs going to improve the system and the flying public is at risk. i sat on c-span and i don't know if you are a host that day or not but three or four months of the when i was on and i got brushed back from folks that all want us to be copacetic and wait to hear with the ntsb tells us but the department of defense was at fault for the accident at reagan because they should not have been having test pilots runs at dca it went there were flights taking off and landing and that is what caused the problem. no matter what you say with the helicopter pilot to high. if they were not there in the past doing test flights, it

wouldn't have been the accident. they have since banned those flights from that corridor and that is good they banned them now but the department of defense never should have had them in the first place. duffy banned them and had seth didn't respond and then there was a flight with a helicopter that came through going to the pentagon and they had to send a few flights that said don't land and circle. the defense department needs to get their act together and stay out of civilian air. host: republican line, daniel, in great falls. caller: thanks for taking my call. i would like to ask the congressman, why should the tax base in the united states be required to subsidize his and his parties ideology? whether it is planned parenthood, where they want to have tax money taken to carry

out abortions across the country and around the world. there were more than a million in the u.s. alone. whether it is pbs and npr and other stations that insist on being subsidize by the u.s. taxpayer which pushes left-wing ideology, whether it is the department of defense which subsidizes europe in their defense and has for decades so they can run the social welfare state in europe? why should be be required -- why should we be required to subsidizes ideology? what does he define as rich? they always throw the slogans, how do you define it rich? do you really think you can pass -- to actually into prosperity? host: we will get a response. guest: that is a lot. he has a different worldview. i don't think that pbs and npr is the wackos. i think they have been great for

the public particularly in rural areas. in urban areas, most get federal funding but not that much. they get contributions in are going to go on is to continue. it is the rural areas where they don't have the money to contribute don't have their own stations. they will get less information and they need it. big bird is not a communist conspiracy. i don't get that. but defending europe, we are part of nato. we are defending ourselves. president trump wants to take in greenland and canada so we can defend ourselves from russia and china coming and attacking us. if you stuck them in europe from taking ukraine and coming out the vulcans and baltic and poland and moldova, you might have -- might not have to take them. they are our enemy. trump wants to have a national

holiday on may 11 which he said was the end of the world war two and november 11 which is now veterans day named by congress and signed by dwight eisenhower who had some credibility on world war ii and call that victory and world war one day. first of all, that shows where his head is. it did not end on may 11. it ended in europe on may 11. it didn't end until september 2 in japan when the japanese surrendered. trump is not looking at the american troops fighting and dying in asia. he is looking at moscow and put in gets to sit in a big chair and watch the big parade on may 11 and he wants a big parade. it is about his parade and not world war ii. he didn't even know our history. we said we need to claim our credit and we haven't claimed our credit for winning the two wars paid what did we win? we beat a german nation that was

out for expanding their borders in world war i and in world war ii would be a fascist nazi state that killed 6 million jews, people with disabilities and etc. and took european countries and raped the women, kill people, destroyed cities. paris, battle of britain, bombing london. we gave a lot of the soldiers who gave their lives and were injured and did a great job and work wonderful but so were the european armies and the europeans suffered greatly. here we are in 2025 and the awful power that is threatening the world is or should and putin who is a genocide or and ukraine kidnapping children, pregnant women, the strength cities, killing civilians, he is the hill are of this era and what does he do? he gets in bed with the heckler. he wants to have a holiday for the people who won the wars in world war i and will bore to fighting against the germans but

for the country is not like the hit there and germany which is put in, he wants to get in bed with them and for some reason he has this spanish about russia. host: daniel also asked about when you said tax the rich and how you would define it rich. guest: rich depends where you are at but i think over four hundred thousand dollars a year income is pretty wealthy, and i know i am talking about memphis and are price of living is not like it is like in san francisco and new york but $400,000 is a lot of money. i have never made $400,000 myself any year. i have lived pretty well and have saved. i don't spend a lot of money paired i am fairly conservative in my spending and don't have a lot of needs. my newest car is a 2015 but before that i had a garage fire and lost my 2010 car which was my newest car. i don't waste my money.

i think 400 thousand dollars. but $8 million or more is definitely rich. host: here is steve in freeland, maryland, democrat. caller: let's just say this year only in the house hundred 35 days in session. explained to me and how we get the nation's business done when the house is only in session for 135 days. in addition, let me tell you how it is going to work as it always does in the legislative branch. the dog and pony show come december, we will go ahead and print $10 trillion. it wouldn't have mattered if it was donald trump or bugs bunny, it doesn't matter could we are going to print $10 trillion and that is because the legislative branch sold this country out in

the 1980's when we outsourced and offshore all of our jobs. and we have to think one party for that, that would be the legislative branch. guest: that is not a party that is a branch. caller: it is going to take 50 years to bring back manufacturing into this country. the legislative branch made money when they sold out america and are going to make money when they go ahead and bring it back and sell america out again. host: go ahead congressman. guest: that is a weird approach pretty came on the democratic line? i think you need a fourth line. host: any, and what he set about bringing back manufacturing to the united states? guest: it is going to be hard to do it and the tariffs aren't going to do it. we have been dependent on defense and motion pictures and entertainment and that is the main things we have to export to

the world because of labor costs. it is far from the legislative branch. treaties are made by the executive branch. i don't know why he blames the legislative branch. we will be your x amount of days. when you surrender your power at which you have it to the president, in fact when i was starting to the airport this week i thought, why do we need a congress, we are asserting all the power to trump. that is with johnson and thune are doing. we will see how it plays out. tariffs are supposed to be with congress and congress has given it up and usaid should be the province of congress and the department of education and the department of energy and all of these different departments that trump and doge have gotten rid of, they are congressional creations and the agencies where he is firing people and going to the institute of peace and putting the washington d.c.

police to get them out of the institute of peace and take it over. this is like the mall cultural revolution going on in the country. firing the librarian and putting a lawyer in. it is crazy. and the blending at the justice department she was a lobbyist for qatar $400,000 a year and she is in the opinion you can take it. they are on the take. host: i want to follow-up on what you said about the library of congress and the firing of the librarian of congress by the president. do you think that is legal? does that violate separation of power since the library of congress should fall under the legislative branch? guest: it is an issue i looked at and i'm not sure. president obama hired her so maybe it has gone on for years. but ms. hayden did a great job. she was a career librarian out of baltimore, maryland. she has a lot of grace and poise and knowledge and she cared

about that position and did a great job. everybody loved her and to put some lawyer in who defended trump for dealing with some stripper and make him the head of the library of congress as a joke. it is a shame. host: here is derek in lakeland, minnesota, independent line. caller: good morning c-span, good morning america. did you just call our attorney general blondie? guest: is that not her name? i get her confused with those fox news people. caller: so you are being funny. guest: i think so. caller: did you bring your bucket of chicken? guest: that says you are a mindless republican. that was a funny thing. barr didn't show up and he was chicken so i got a bucket of chicken to show he was chicken. i ate one bite of chicken. your type when they gio on x

say he went on and ate a whole bucket of chicken. whatever, get over it. chicken is good i like chicken. kavanaugh likes beer, i like chicken. host: tomorrow the supreme court is going to be taken up the question of birthright citizenship or your comments on that. guest: that's been the constitution since after the civil war and i think it is a slamdunk what trump is doing is just appealing to nativists who don't want to have people born here that their parents had not been here that long. the supreme court will rule that that's part of the constitution the whole idea of what he's doing is wrong. i think it's a lay down slamdunk. host: a queiofor you by text who say good commerce mckeown

explainowhe debt ceiling will be raised by speaker johnson. i don't see how he does it with just house republicans and no support from house democrats. your thoughts on raising the debt ceiling. guest: we have raised it for years. there probably shouldn't be a debt ceiling that needs to be some control of spending because the deficit is a problem. deficits have always come to the aid of republicans to pass the debt ceiling and if we have to do it again i suspect we will do it again. host: donald in raleigh, north carolina. caller: yes congressman i just wanted to say thank you for doing a great job and thank you for the way you handled the negative callers who have called in this morning. when you stress to those who are negative 80 such a confidence way as you did it makes me proud. there are hundreds of thousands of us out here who applaud you and the democrats and what you are doing. guest: you are welcome sir.

the guard from memphis thinking of transferring to nc state, you will have a great year watching them play. host: congressman steve cohen, a democrat of tennessee. a ranking member on the transportation infrastructure and aviation subcommittee and a member of the judiciary committee. thank you so much for joining us today. guest: thank you, i'm going to run out to popeye's and eat some chicken. host: columnist and former trump economic advisor stephen moore to discuss the republican budget and the president economic agenda coming up after the break. ♪ >> c-spanshop.org is c-span's online store. browser collection of c-span products, apparel, books, home to core and accessories. there is something for every c-span fan and every purchase helps support our nonprofit operations. shop now or any time at

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c-span.org/podcasts. >> washington journal continues. >> we are joined by the founding of committee -- founder of the committee to police prosperity and his senior visiting fellow of economics at the heritage foundation paid welcome to the program. guest: thanks for having me, love c-span, appreciate the opportunity to come out. host: all eyes are on congress as markups go on through several of the committees on the reconciliation bill. what are your initial thoughts on that gop bill? guest: i just want to remind your viewers because polls show only half of americans are even aware of this that there is no room for failure here. we have to pass this bill, if we don't pass this bill by december 31, january 1 the american people get the biggest tax increase probably in america in history. so virtually all the trump tax

cuts from 2017 that very successful tax cut that really energize the economy that will mostly expire. a few provisions don't but on most all of them dealing with average americans and small businesses would expire. we estimate the average family in america will see about a $2500 increase in their tax burden and the tax payments the irs next year so we have to get that done. almost every small business in america got a tax cut from that bill. we know small businesses are really the spinal cord of the american economy. we did a lot of other things in that bill that i am proud of. i helped write the very first version of that with donald trump in 2016. i think all americans agree we don't want that bill to expire. we want to keep america competitive. this week as we speak the house

members trying to put together a bill they can send over to the senate, get this thing passed. i don't understand why it's taking so long. we should've gotten this done a month ago because all americans are in favor of making that tax cut permanent and that's one of the things like no tax on tips and other smaller versions of the bill. >> one of the committees, the energy and commerce committee is actually still meeting as we speak. they have been going all night and their continuing the big fight of course is over medicaid in that committee, they need to find about $880 billion in savings. what are your thoughts on how that's going to happen. >> the number one thing people have to understand is no one who is eligible for the program will see any of their benefits reduced, none of them. this idea eligible women are going to lose their prenatal

care if they are pregnant or i have seen some ads saying rural hospitals will shut down. that is all a lie. the truth is if you look at medicaid today. this isn't me speaking, this is both doge and the governments own auditors have found that there's about $150 billion of fraudsters who are getting medicaid coverage, free health care coverage but they're not eligible for the program. that includes illegal immigrants and a lot of employable adults who are just going on the program so they don't have to pay health care. how is that fair to people like you and me and most of the people watching the show who actually pay for their health care and then we have to pay for the health care people were not even eligible for the program. i forget that number you mentioned. guest: 880 billion. host:host: if we were to take

out the 150 billion that would leave 730 billion. >> that's 150 billion per year. if we could just get rid of the fraud we will save $1.5 trillion over 10 years. that would be an enormous savings. but also i wonder what people think about it. if you don't have kids and you're in employable adult, and you're not working, this bill would basically say if you're going to get free health care from the taxpayer just like free food for food stamps, you'll have to either have a job or you have to be looking for a job. americans are tired of people sitting on the couch watching tv and getting free health care and free food. i think most people would agree we should have more requirements for all these programs preyed we want to help people who want to help themselves. >> regarding work requirements, the critics of that say the

state of georgia did try that and ended up just eligible people not being on the roles and didn't really improve employment. what are your thoughts on that. do you know the details of that program in georgia? guest: i'm not familiar with that that's the first time i've heard of that. i do know this i've been in washington doing policy work for a long time so i was there in the mid-1990's when bill clinton was president a democrat and newt gingrich a republican was running the house of representatives. we passed one of the best welfare reform bills in the history of the country where we basically had work requirements for welfare benefits and they were very strict requirements. what we found was so many people had been on welfare went into the workforce and got a job, we know the amount of money we had to spend on this was radically reduced but also what we found was work requirements actually

were beneficial to the people who had been on this programs. we got training and jobs. you can have a nice lifestyle in this country if you're on welfare you have to get a job and climb that ladder. that's what we need to do with people on medicaid, food stamps is we don't want people to go hungry in this country. but we do want people working in the idea those of us working 40 or 50 hours a week should have to pay taxes for people won't even help themselves. i want to be clear on this, if you're disabled or of some reason why you can't work, that wouldn't apply to them. if you talk about single women or males and they're not working. i think they should get a job. >> he will be with us for about 20 minutes. you can call us on our lines by party. democrats at 202-748-8000. independence 202-748-8002.

republicans 202-748-8001. i want to ask about the cap on salt, this is a contentious issue the stance for state and local tax deductions. first explain the issue and the disagreement and where you stand on it. >> it's a good question and i have to say when i helped write the original tax bill that we passed in 2017, i was the loudest voice for getting rid of the state and local tax adduction. i want to make sure everybody knows i was listening with the congressman earlier about raising taxes on the rich. one good way of doing that is get rid of these loopholes in the tax system. let me put it simply, there was no reason why somebody living in a high tax state like california or new york or new jersey or my home state of illinois should get a bigger tax cut than someone who lives in new york -- texas preyed you can live wherever you want but if you vote for policies that have very

high state and local taxes why should people in other states have to bear the burden of that. so what we are doing in this bill was we said we will give you a $10,000 you can deduct up to $10,000 at your state and local taxes. for people in most states that snowbird and at all because state and local tax are pretty reasonable. if you live in these high tax blue states your taxes are probably a lot higher. if you have a problem with that take it to albany or springfield or sacramento. you get those politicians to lower your taxes. the most important thing i want people to understand if we bring back salt deduction, that would be the biggest tax cut for millionaires and billionaires in american history because today because of our tax cut in 2017, 91% of americans don't itemize their deductions. they don't take the salt deduction because they just check the box and they take the standard deduction. the people who do itemize their

deductions today there are some exceptions but overall, most of the people taking itemized deductions are millionaires and billionaires and so my point was saying let's you want to make the tax system fair this gets rid of all the deductions. as not going to affect the middle class much at all but it will force higher income people to pay their fair share of taxes. and then we can actually lower the rates more. there is no reason for the salt adduction to be raised but the reality is that because we got about five or six republicans who want the salt adduction raised the probably have to make some accommodation. i think they probably will double the deduction from 10,000 to $20,000. >> you co-authored a book last year called the trump economic miracle. briefly can you explain what you consider to be president trump's economic miracle.

>> in the first term, the trump economic plan was spectacular success. people forget if had not been for covid trump probably would've one a 40 state reelection landslide in 2020. of course covid came and that changed everything. we made the greatest mistake in american history when we shut down our economy and businesses, our schools and churches and god for bid hopefully we've learned the lesson we should never do that again. one of the greatest abuses of power in american history. but from 2017 through the beginning of covid, the u.s. economy was booming. every statistic we had a booming stock market, a huge reduction of poverty rates, the average american family engaged $6,000 in income things to the trump policies. that was just short of a miracle. i think trump can do it again. it's been some rough waters for

sure in the last few months with these tariff turbulence. i'm not a big fan of the tariffs but i have to say things look a lot better today in the economy than they did a month ago. if trump can pull this off and get better deals for america i think you'll see another trump boom like you saw in his first term. >> let's go to sean in georgia. independent line you are on with steve. caller: thank you. steve i just want to point out to everybody i feel like you are kind of lying a little bit. the tax cuts that you're mentioning that are going to be implemented in december if they do come to pass are actually subsets from the previous bill -- sunsets from the bill that president trump passed. it feels as though you are misleading people by saying for some reason taxes are going to go up, but you guys said that it's mainly for the middle and lower class that those tax

increases are -- or cuts will be on the lower middle class. if you're worried about government health care and over abuse on government health care why not talk about walmart and mcdonald's that are the biggest users of government health care. they do not pay for their employees to get health care. guest: well look i can -- i don't know about mcdonald's and walmart. those are mostly kind of started jobs for people and i guess they don't provide health care but i will say this, there's a really important point. um, the trump tax cut is set to expire at the end of this year and nobody wants that to happen. polls show overwhelmingly about 70% of americans don't want that tax cut to expire. i don't know sir if you do most american's can't afford to pay 25 thousand or $30,000 in tax after the big inflation we had a hunter biden.

so we have to do this in my opinion. i think it would just wreck the economy if we didn't get this extended and i think most americans are behind me on that. >> let's go to john in ohio, republican. >> just asking how to report somebody that does collect all those benefits. i don't know. host: i think we lost you. you're trying to report somebody that's collecting benefits? caller: yeah, how do you do that when they're capable of work and help them. they should be working. guest: if the question is how do we find the fraudsters that are ripping off americans, to the tune of half $1 trillion a year, we have to have people

monitoring these programs. we have to have -- people are stealing the money from these programs should be put in jail in my opinion we have rampant fraud, nobody in washington, i blame republicans and democrats for this, to allow this to happen, half $1 trillion a year. some of these people don't even live in the united states for goodness sake. they are getting social security checks in medicare payments, they are getting food stamps and many of them aren't even in the country. we need to make it a top priority for the country to make sure only the people who are eligible for the programs are getting the money. this was true of the ppp program under covid, unemployment benefits, nobody is minding the store and making sure only the people who are eligible for it get it. if somebody stealing money from these programs it would be like if i walked down the street but a gun to somebody's head and

said give me $100 and stole from their wallet. that's what's happening day after day and trump is say no more. we will do something about this and help these people and get the money back. host: steve, your thoughts on president trump's tariffs plans so far. you called it tariff turbulence. >> maybe it should be turmoil. i am much more of a free-trade guy than donald trump. he and i he knows how i feel about that, but i also believe that because everyone benefits from trade. trade is the essence of what economics is about. if i trade with you and you have something i want and i have something you want and we freely trade, by definition we are both better off and that's what makes economics important is what raises the living standards of all americans. we benefited from trade. and we can sell them.

we import a lot of coffee beans from columbia and brazil because they make great coffee beans and then we sell them our computers and we make great computers. it's called the law of comparative advantage preyed it is so important for our economy. but trump is right that the united states we have the lowest tariffs in the world virtually with all the major trading partners and what trump is saying is our tariff is at 10% and canada or korea or japan at 30 or 40%. in china it's over 100% that's not fair. we are going to force those countries to bring their tariffs down and this is what's working so far. we have two big deals in the works with the u.k. in china. either you reduce your tariffs on us or we are going to impose high tariffs on you. so far at least it looks like

trump is prevailing on that because if china cannot trade with the united states they will go into a great depression. they have to trade with us and that's one of the reasons i think they blinked and why we will get a pretty good trade deal with china. host: on the line for democrats in lake worth, florida. caller: good morning. stephen, i don't believe a single word you're saying, nothing. you are saying some very nasty things about me and i've taken it personally. i lost my job in september. it was not my fault. i am looking for jobs i applied for hundreds and hundreds of jobs. i have a masters degree. i'm not sitting home getting insurance. so for you to say something like that and there's many people out there like me. nobody wants to stay home, i can imagine a single person and not be able to take that it's stressful not having a job. so i hope this changes your tone

about people like me. guest: -- i will just say first of all i'm sorry for your plight. i've been unemployed before and it's a scary situation so hope you can find a job soon as possible and a good paying one at that. the most important thing we can do for someone like you is to improve the economy. the biden years were tough, we had very high rising prices and the american people spoke out and said this didn't work. so we will try to bring those jobs back so that everybody has the opportunities because we won every american who wants a job to have one. but if you're unemployed for a long time and you have the kind of skills there are jobs out there. there are 7 million job openings in america today. we have to make sure the people were unemployed or filling those jobs it might not be exactly the job you want but we want to make sure we get people back into the workforce that help you find a job as possible.

with trump's economics those jobs are going to come back. host: peter is a republican in new york. caller: good morning. i agree with you the need to eliminate these tax loopholes. for years we have heard that warren buffett pays a lower tax rate than his secretary. but there is a loophole in the law where he only took $1 million salary and the rest of it was stock options which he only paid capital gains tax on. and also that carried interest provision that trump originally wanted to get rid of but republicans and -- in congress blocked him from doing that. also corporations that own subsidiaries if the subsidiaries lose money they get to deduct those losses on their tax bill and that's the reason why they pay no taxes.

even small businesses take advantage of that. one of the things with this new tax bill, unfortunately from what i heard is that the provisions for the work provision don't kick in until 2029 and senator ron johnson has been also complaining that you know that they are not really making any cuts. what i believe president trump is trying to do is he is trying to increase business in the united states with these agreements, bring more revenue in so that we can pay for these because he understands that even republicans are reluctant to make cuts and that seems to be the plan and i hope he succeeds in doing that. thank you steve. guest: i was listening to your show earlier and we have had a couple of calls on this already. there is this mythology that's been going around and it's not

surprising that people are falling for this because the media keep saying it over and over again that the trump tax cuts are tax cut for the rich and the rich are not paying their fair share. these numbers just came out a couple months ago, these are the official government statistics from the irs which collects the taxes. today in america, the top 1% of americans, those at the very top of the income sale desk scale. pay a higher share of the income tax than any other time in history of the united states. the top 1% pay about 44% of all income taxes. one out of 100 people pay almost half of the income tax and that went up after the trump tax cuts so would was at 40%. the top 1% were paying 40% of the income tax before the trump tax cuts. now they pay 44%. the top 10% pay 90% of the income tax. the idea of the rich are not fate -- paying their fair share

but there are some people scamming the system for sure and i would love to see a flat tax rate get rid of all the abductor deductions, all the special lobbyist provisions that help some people avoid taxes. warren buffett has paid billions and billions of dollars of taxes through the companies he owns and through his individual tax. the idea his secretary pays higher taxes than him his ridiculous parade it is simply not true especially when you think about all the taxes paid either businesses. i just want every buddy to pay their fair share and let the taxes be as low and reasonable as possible so we can grow this economy be the number one economy in the world and i think if we can make this trump tax cut permanent i think it will be good for everybody. including the small businesses. host: we have a tt for you from constance in las vegas, vada who says so far mr. moore s t mentioned the waste fraud and abuse withru pillaging the treasury of his

golf trips and planned ego stroking parade, why is that ok? guest: i couldn't quite hear the end of that. the golf trips. host: and the planned ego stroking parade. and why is that ok? guest: the planned parade? host: yes the military parade. guest: well listen, i think -- um, i don't know how much that will cost. i think trump is -- he loves pager out adjusters like that. i would loved by the way you know when they do that kind of thing, why not get some corporate sponsorship for that so that it's paid for by the companies. i don't know how much the parade will cost but that's like saying let's cancel the fourth of july parade so we can reduce cost. i don't think that something americans want to see, but i will say this about the waste, fraud and abuse. one of the problems i have and now i will sound more like a democratic than republican. the biggest agency of our budget

is of course the pentagon, our national security and national defense and you have to spend whatever you need to to keep the country safe, but we are spending a trillion dollars a year on our military and everyone knows that there is massive fraud and waste in the pentagon. i wish -- my one complaint about what elon musk did when he was running doge, and i think he did a great job of exposing the incredible waste in our budget, but they should have started the pentagon. republicans want to spend another $150 billion a year on the pentagon, why not take that out of the waste and fraud. you have people in the pentagon nobody even knows what they do anymore. i would like to see republicans be very fair-minded about this. let's get rid of the waste in every single government agency so that people aren't being ripped off. host: let's talk to brett in florida, independent line. caller: good morning.

i just wanted to make a comment on something steve had said a couple calls ago about the share of taxes being paid at the upper end. everyone is saying that the reversion to the 2017 levels will benefit the rich and they are the same people who said that the cuts in 2017 benefited the rich. all we are doing is reverting to the past, the rich can benefit on the way down in the way up more than the poor. you can only have it one way or the other. i think it's pretty well acknowledged that the reversion to where we were before was mostly going to hit lower income folks. that was all i had to say. guest: if i could just make a comment on that i think this gentleman makes a great point and i just looked at the -- we got a first look at the new census bureau data, this is the gold standard of what happens with people's incomes and it's

really remarkable. in trump's first term he was president for four years, from 20172020 and even including the covid years when we saw a big dip in people's incomes when we foolishly shutdown our economy, even during that periods, the average family in america, the people in the median that's the exact middle saw about a $5,000 increase in their -- in their incomes, family income after adjusting for inflation. that's a pretty good gain in four years. under biden what's really interesting is the average family gained almost nothing in income because inflation was so high. so interesting about this is in the biden years even though everybody was talking about how we'll make a fair economy where the rich and will help the people at the bottom. what happened because of the high inflation is the people who got clobbered under biden's policies were the people at the bottom and the people who benefited the most were people

who were at the top. that's exactly the opposite result that the biden had wanted but his policies were so damaging to people in the middle class at the bottom that those were the people who felt the most. we want to repeal those policies and get back to policies. as john f. kennedy and ronald reagan said we want an economy where a rising tide of prosperity lifts every boat. people at the bottom and the middle. i'm all in favor of people getting rich that's what makes america great. we want everybody to have that opportunity. host: senior visiting fellow in economics of the heritage foundation, founder of committee to unleash prosperity, you can find them online at committee to unleash prosperity.com. guest: thanks and i love c-span and thanks for the opportunity to come on the show. host: coming up after the break, more of your phone calls an open forum. you can start calling in now, 202-748-8000 democrats 202-748-8000,. republicans 202-748-8001.

independents 202-748-8002. >> book tv every sunday on c-span features leading authors discussing their latest nonfiction bks here's a look at what's comi up this weekend. at 6:30 p.m. eastern, npr international correspondent emily fang shares her book let only red flowers bloom where she reports on individuals in china who are pushing back against efforts to control free exession. at 8:00 p.m. eastern columbia universities talking about the use and evoluon of language and argues the current controversy over pronoun usage in america is largely overblown in h book pronoun trouble. at nine: 15 p.m. eastern, steve olson recalls the call for cannick eruption at mount int helens and southwestern washington on may 181980 which

relted in the deaths of 57 people. then at 10:00 p.m. eastern, university of michigan law professor leah lippmann explains why she believes t sreme court isn't making rulings based on leg principles in her book lawless. how the supreme courtuns off conserti grievance, fringe theories and bad vibes. she is interviewed by author of nation magazine justice correspondent. watch book tv every sunday on c-span 2 and find a full schedule under program guide or watch online on book tv.org. >> there are many ways to listen to c-span radio anytime anywhere in the washington dc area listen on 90.1 fm. use our free c-span now appr go online to c-span.org/radio.

on channel 455, the tune in app and on your smart speaker by saying play c-span radio. here are live program washington journal daily, listen to house and senate proceedings, committee hearings, news conferences and other public affairs events live throughout the day and for the best way to hear what's happening in washington with fast-paced reports and analysis of the day. catch washington today weekdays at 5:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. eastern. listen to c-span programs on c-span radio anytime, anywhere. democracy unfiltered. >> washington journal continues. host: we are in open forum and we will get to your calls shortly. tomorrow at 10:00 a.m., the supreme court will hear oral arguments in three cases concerning whether judges can block president trump's execiv order that limits

birthright citizensh f children born to undocumented parents, that is tomorrow live at 10:00.m here over on c-span three. also some things for today on c-span3, 9:45, in about less than 10 minutes, the faa officials will testify on air safety and air traffic control technology before the senate commerce science and transportation committee. that's on c-span3. there is also a state dinner in qatar where president trump is on this middle east trip. he's expected to give remarks and we will have live coverage of that starting at 12:45 p.m. eastern on c-span3 and als later today at 1:30, health and hun services secretary rfk junior will testify on president trump 22 any six budget request for hhs and other priorities for that department.

and that's happening before the sena health committee live at 1:30 p.m. eastern today on c-span3 as well. all of those you can see on our free app, c-span now or online at c-span.org. we will go to the calls now and we will hear from lynn in mount vernon, new york. host: good morning -- caller: good morning mimi. i wanted to comment, the man who was just on as well as a lot of other people always say how much the wealthy pay in relationship in contrast to the other people in this country. they fail to mention that they have between 67% and 71% of all of the wealth as well and the bottom half of this country only has 2% to 3% of the wealth. so they are getting a good deal when they pay 50%, they should

pay more. thank you, have a wonderful day. host: this is gordon in kansas city, republican. caller: boy, that lady is nuts. anyway, i want to speak more to ask you to punch up how much the treasury took in in 2017 and then compare it to what the treasury took in in 2018 and you will see the trump tax cuts made it like a trillion dollars more money coming to the treasury and i want to pick up my taxes i was over pay and they went to pick up my taxes after 2018 tax cut took effect and i paid $3000 less a year and that's -- up to $25,000 that i saved. so -- the congressman from tennessee is a complete embarrassment, thank you. >> here is philip in jackson,

mississippi independent line. good morning. >> good morning. just on the last caller's comments, it just seems the republicans have some sort of way of not looking at what most people see as reality. and that is you know taking money in the government that you should not be taking, corruption , lying and calling people names, that's their favorite. they seem to love calling people names and blaming people they called names for the name-calling. it's an incredible situation i listen to in terms of mental illness. i think that's what it must be or something. but i just hope americans start to look at the long run of where we are going with climate change , it's very important and this

summer i think it's going to disrupt a lot of our normal activities because there's been a level of heat that will be generated. so i just hope reality, people being open-minded to learning rather than being shut off by their own belief systems which sometimes are very very negative. but they have power. i just hope we can clean all of that up going into the future months. host: politico is reporting that alexandria ocasio-cortez at 3:00 a.m. made comments over miscarriages that sparks a fiery exchange with gop male counterparts as the headline from politico. we have that exchange and will show it to you now. [video clip] >> in terms of some of the exemptions, pregnancy is covered correct? >> may i interrupt. i'm glad you're addressing us consider speaking to the camera. deep going. >> pregnancy is covered correct?

as an exemption? i have a question. given the dobbs decision, and the fact that many women in many states are forced to be hearing -- >> i'm going to reclaim my time. >> what about miscarriage? >> i just want to make the point that we would like for you to address the republicans and let's have a dialogue this way and not to the camera. >> but -- >> the gentleman yields back. >> i'm asking what about miscarriage? i'm trying to engage the way >> >>. the gentleman yields back. >> so you don't want to answer for women having miscarriages. >> you need to be recognized. >> speaking of where we are addressing in who we are addressing, there are 13.7 million americans on the other

side of that screen right there. hello. hello, i am talking to you because i work for you. and, they deserve to see what is happening here because there are plenty of districts including republican ones where 25% of your constituents are on medicaid, 40% of constituents are on medicaid and yes i am -- i am talking to them and i will not yield because it was a terribly disrespectful comment and i will not yield to disrespectful men, thank you very much. i will yield back to the gentlelady. host: that was at 3:00 a.m. this morning in that energy commerce subcommittee doing markups for the reconciliation bill still in session. they have been going all night, they continue. if you would like to follow that

you can check our website c-span.org. and matt in ohio, a democrat you are on open forum. caller: thanks for taking the call. a couple of things i want to address with stephen miller. first off, ash host: steve moore you mean? caller: yes, thank you. people always say who you look like, i think you look like ava gardner and i think you might want to look her up if you don't know who she is. also, with stephen, he wants to say that america shut down during covid and that was a terrible thing to do. i would just like to say that he should look at a couple of rallies the donald trump filled in 2020. one was in oklahoma and they tried to make it seem like covid was gone, look at how many

people died going to that rally. also when amy coney barrett was installed in the supreme court, i believe they held a rose garden event there. how many people got covid from that event? . shutting down the united states and not only the united states i believe the whole world shut down because of covid. it did not make any sense to try and open it up and let more people die. that's my time. host: this is jesse in maryland, republican good morning. caller: not a republican, independent but yeah, really dislike trump, he has their only blaming biden and the last guy you said they'll sit biden. i felt more comfortable during biden's term with covid and

everything then i do now. and everyone around me as well. trump just takes credit for the economy that he hasn't even done anything for yet. it's crazy. people need to start cutting all these are republicans off and you know telling them the facts. stop letting them over talk. and show the facts. host: it looks at you did call in their publican line so i will ask -- caller: that was an accident. host: be more comfortable next time. >> ernst, good morning. caller: good morning. can you hear me? caller: yeah.

i've been following this for a long time and i've been a democrat all my life. louisiana is originally was a heavy democrat but i don't understand why this should be even talking about democrat or republican. we need to take control of our country. we need to remove the illegal aliens. we need to do more to equalize taxes and we're just running into problems with this. why are we fighting donald trump for -- president trump all the time. i don't understand. it does not make sense, he is trying to do what is best for this country. and -- i think c -- i think c-span needs to get on the bag bandwagon and understand our

country can only be saved if we can reduce our debt, if we cannot reduce our debt we are doomed. just like our household would be. we would be doomed if we overspent our budget each month. and being in a lower income i very well understand that. so, if you could help us on c-span, we would appreciate it. thank you. host: patricia, brooklyn, democrat. good morning. >> how you doing there. can you hear me. yeah i just wanted to speak on the office of management and budget. education and welfare, some of the root -- the federal reserve banks, so we must deal with the economy and know that the bitcoins and the cryptocurrency is private money. so you know new york we will

have to get our mayor together. i am going with that woman mayor. we have not had a woman mayor since 1818, 1616 and 8080 -- 1887. so let my brooklyn folks know patricia ann robinson is going for the woman mayor. host: when is the election for new york mayor? caller: in june. host: who are the candidates you mentioned? the one you are supporting who are the other ones? caller: the other ones are cuomo, eric adams, brett landers. host: here is roger in knoxville, tennessee. caller: how are you doing this morning. host: good. caller: i wanted to mention quick that when i hear about raising taxes on the rich and this that and the other my problem is no matter what we

raise taxes to or how much we tax, unless they are going to spend it right, unless we will get a handle on it it doesn't matter. it's not going to matter. in our -- in knoxville or government has grown so big it is out of hand in the normal person we are not able to get a grip on it. we are not able to grasp what is done. if we can do that there is no way they will do anything with this to make it right. when i wrote my check, when i did my taxes this year. i had a hard time writing that check for 452 dollars and sending it to the irs. so that's what i wanted to say. i appreciate you taking my call thank you. >> inflation numbers came out yesterday this is the front page of the wall street journal. mild april inflation captures early hint of tariffs. prices ticked up after cooling in march as fears melt that increases lie ahead.

it says inflation was relatively mild in april but economists said tariffs will end a recent low and push up more prices in the coming months. consumer price index rose a seasonally adjusted .2% in april. the labor department said yesterday analysts interpreted the report as good news primarily because it did not reveal bad news including meaningful effects of higher tariffs that could show up later this summer. that month over month reading match the forecast of economists polled by the wall street journal. that is from the wall street journal. if you would like to take a look at that. here is craig in phillips, south dakota. >> good morning, how are you doing. host: good. caller: the gentleman a couple gentlemen ago he talked about funding for pbs. and in south dakota we have less than one million people, but we

have three pbs tv stations. i believe cutting two of those stations out we would save some money. host: here is james in philadelphia, democrat. caller: thank you. so i did want to speak to that stephen moore from heritage foundation. the complaint i keep hearing about how they are going to catch fraud in the system in the medicaid system or a system similar to that, is you have somebody sleeping on the bed watching tv and i wanted to ask if he had watched on sunday 60 minutes. the person who would been working with the government accountability office, she discovered and was talking about the amount of fraud that goes on comes from these state actors. she's talking like trillions of

dollars. she was happy someone was talking about fraud, but she was putting the blame not only on individuals, you have criminal elements stealing personal id and she was using #$500 million to $750 million. i don't know if you are aware of the 60 minute program. it was this past sunday and it was eye-opening. and so when you hear somebody blaming individuals doing something like that, really it comes down to being able to do more id on people because there is a lot of personal identification being stolen and it's just a fact. it's so easy now. you worry about i wiest to worry about taking envelopes that had my name on or something like that. putting in the trash. people go online and find your

social security number for two dollars. and this is not individuals that are doing this. and taking the money. thank you. host: on the republican line in utah, lena you are next. caller: i would just like to let people know that some people are the poorest of the poor and i am one of them. and when i was working, i never made more than $29,000. and i believe that everyone would pay 10% people and businesses -- and businesses, they wouldn't make deductions that they shouldn't have and also i have a neighbor woman who keeps having kids and she's got six kids in several miscarriages and the taxpayers are paying for all of that. she made a sign one time so that

she could get this paid one she first moved in. and to me, that's not fair and then she works a little bit at deductions for all of these children. >> are you on medicaid? >> that i am on medicare. host: and you are retired? caller: and i am retired. i learned to get by because i work hard and i care -- i'm careful about what i spend. i don't go on vacations, but i survive and if everybody did 10% that would be fair. i don't think rich people should pay 50%. that's not fair. thank you. host: here is joann in texas, line free democrats. caller: good morning, thank you for taking my call. i know it's open forum so i just wanted to put my two cents in.

first, on medicaid. and getting really frustrated hearing people calling in and focusing on the lazy people. i want to remind people that medicaid isn't just for people who are impoverished. it's also used to take care of children who are in foster care or have been adopted through the foster care system. and i hope there are plans in place to take care of the children and make sure that they don't lose their services or that some of the services get cut under medicaid that take care of foster children so it's not just about people sitting and being lazy. and collecting a check. and, the other thing i wanted to bring up was the fact that there actually are elderly people who

took advantage of the system as well. they have assets, they have homes, they have heavy bank accounts. but they will often put those bank accounts and homes under family members names so they can get into assisted living homes or so that they can get medicaid or medicare benefits. so it's not just the lazy. everybody is trying to find a way to live. and so it is not just the lazy, there are some people out there who have assets but cannot claim them because they risk not being able to get into homes. and thank you so much. host: louis is a republican, boynton beach florida. caller: good afternoon and thank you for giving everybody a voice here. i just want to say in observation of the political climate in this country, as well as the world by context we are

in cultural revolution in this country. norms and standards of political diversity, to appoint of unprecedented hatred, unprecedented division. the law fair, the unveiling of what doge has discovered. the hundreds of billions of dollars that the democrats have been shelling out behind closed doors of the budgets letting these corporations off. how much elon musk has discovered and then to punctuate that the gentleman who's done nothing but good for this country. he's attacked and it is so full of hatred that the democrats are actually would go to burn people's cars and keep people's cars, donald trump, hatred for him dr. drew said he is a former

doctor on television. it's a form of mental illness. they have induced this and brainwashed the public with mainstream media big tech all the three liberal networks that report 97% negative to our president. the democrat party is abhorrent, they are everything that our president is doing they are trying to sabotage 24 hours a day seven days a week it is disgusting and what they have is absolute, believable. they brought in 20 million people to replace the american electorate. that's what their whole scheme was. host: moving on to mike in stockton, california independent. you are on the air. >> good morning. what i wanted to talk about on this open forum segment was donald trump is trying to deal

with illegal immigration as he calls it problem, i always thought that e-verify was one of the best tools that they had, there is no mention of people trying to institute the e-verify program or whatever. you know i just thought that was strange, employers that are hiring all these people they are not really going after them. we don't really see this at all. and i am not talking about pick and choose stuff i'm talking about construction jobs. host: that's the time we have got for washington journal today. we will see you again tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. eastern. here is the house. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] communication from the speaker.cation from the the clerk: the speaker's rooms, washington, d.c. may 14,